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Blackstone's first-quarter financial report was headlined by its opportunistic real estate portfolio, which grew more than 10%, outperforming its other businesses.

The private equity giant saw its opportunistic real estate returns climb 10.3% in the quarter, while its Core+ real estate portfolio returned 7.9%, according to the firm's latest earnings report. Blackstone increased its real estate AUM by $17 billion in the quarter, bringing the total to nearly $300 billion.

The firm saw a rise in distributable earnings—the allocation of cash that can be returned to investors—compared to the same period last year. It reported $1.9 billion for the quarter—up from $1.2 billion, but down from $2.3 billion in Q4 2021.

Blackstone's net earnings fell compared to the same period last year—weighed on by weaker performance in the firm's credit arm. The firm reported $1.2 billion in net income compared to $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2021, and $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The firm's real estate holdings success was driven by numerous deals throughout the quarter, including a $12.8 billion takeover deal inked just this week for American Campus Communities, consisting of a portfolio of 166 properties in 71 university markets including the University of California, Berkeley, Arizona State University and Florida State University.

Earlier this month, Blackstone reportedly landed a $600 million-plus deal for Flatiron Park, a 22-building life science and tech complex in Boulder, Colo.

In February, Blackstone announced a €21 billion (about $23 billion) recapitalization of European ecommerce warehouse business Mileway—a Dutch owner of 1,700 last-mile logistics real estate assets.

And last week, in a deal in a related sector, the firm teamed up with the Italian billionaire Benetton family to bid for infrastructure group Atlantia in what would be Europe's largest take-private deal on record, valuing the company's equity at €19 billion (about $20.5 billion).

Blackstone's corporate private equity returns fell to 2.8% growth—down from 4.8% growth in Q4 2021 and from a 15.3% return in the same period last year. Its total AUM trended closer to the $1 trillion mark, with the firm reporting a figure of $915.5 billion.

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This article originally appeared on PitchBook News